Discovery of the February Eta Draconids (FED, IAU#427): the dust trail of a potentially hazardous long-period comet

A previously unknown shower was detected on February 4, 2011, during routine low-light-level video triangulations with NASA's Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) project in California between 2h20m and 14h20 m UT. During that time interval, six meteors radiated from a compact geocentric radiant at R.A. = 239.92 +/0.50 deg, Decl. = 62.49 +/0.22 deg, with speed Vg = 35.58 +/0.34 km/s. The times of arrival for the meteors were 6h25m, 7h59m, 10h49m, 11h18m,12h14m UT and 13h33m UT, suggesting that the outburst peaked around 11h UT (solar longitude 315.1 deg) and had a duration of at least 7 hours. The shower was not detected on the days prior to or after Feb. 4. The meteors were in a narrow magnitude range, with peak visual magnitude of +2.1, +1.9, +2.6, +2.1, +2.3 and +2.4, respectively, moving from 103.6 +/1.4 to 95.7 +/1.5 km altitude. The mean meteoroid orbital elements derived from the radiant and speed are: q = 0.971 +/0.001 AU, 1/a = -0.004 +/0.025 1/AU, i = 55.20 +/0.34 deg, w = 194.09 +/0.35 deg, Node = 315.07 +/0.10 deg (one standard deviation). The orbital period of this shower is P > 53 y (three standard deviations), so that the meteoroids are likely the dust trail of a potentially hazardous long-period comet, which remains to be discovered. _____________________________________________________________________________